Richard Pfieffer, Scotch Plains, shows the $25,347 bill from Medicaid for home-based medical care his mother received before her death at age 92.

Written by

Shannon Mullen | @MullenAPP

After their 92-year-old mother died, Richard Pfieffer and his siblings were set to sell her home in Westfield when a bill for $25,347 brought them up short.

The amount was the total cost of the home-based medical care their mother received through Medicaid in the last years of her life. If the bill wasn't paid in full, the family was informed, the state would place a lien on the property.

"It was like, 'What the hell are they talking about?' " said Pfieffer, 65, of Scotch Plains. ...